When Lightning Strikes
by Lala Sharada
Summary: Shots rang out and in a literal flash of lightning, Nick's life suddenly switches into a stark, clear line of before and after. The before was rosy and happy and content. His wonderful family was intact. The after holds anything but, as Nick takes his bleeding wife in his arms. -Only rated T for blood and dramatics-
1. In a Flash of Lightning

**A.N: Honestly, I saw this fanart- which is the cover pic -of Nick holding Judy's bloody body in the pouring rain and then this story was born. I wanted an explanation for what was happening. Plus, ever since I saw the movie, I've ben trying to hunt down some serious Judy/Nick angst. I haven't really read anything I liked enough yet, so I wrote something myself. Go figure.**

 **This is super sad and will be continued, so I guess, please enjoy it knowing that I will write a happy ending no matter what.**

* * *

Thunder booms loud overhead and the already ominous sky takes on a darker tone as more rainclouds gather. Nick looks up at the sky for a moment, grim faced at the prospect of rain that will inevitably add to what is already shaping up to be a troublesome chase. The humidity from the oncoming storm clogs his throat, it's so thick in the air.

Nick is quickly snapped back to reality when Judy peeks out from the alleyway and tells him, "Nick, we've gotta get moving!"

And then she's gone before he can blink.

"Carrots, wait! Don't!" Nick reaches out to pull her back, but he only swipes at the air. He watches helplessly as Judy races up the street after the portly hippo and his thieving zebra partner. The duo just robbed a bank and are trying to outrun the cops on foot. Judy and Nick were the first ones on the scene and at the moment, are the only officers in pursuit. There was no way that they could pursue them with the car, so they had to chase the robbers down on foot. It was Judy's plan to find a close hiding spot on a neighboring street ahead of them, so they wouldn't tip off the escaping perps right away and hopefully catch them by surprise.

Nick growls in frustration, knowing that if he doesn't act fast, Judy might get herself hurt and into trouble. She's a smart rabbit, but she's always overeager and running headlong into dangerous situations without thinking everything through. He dashes immediately after her, but despite his longer legs, he isn't able to match her speeding rabbit sprint as she chases down the hippo.

She's literally about to tackle him when he sees it, and his blood runs cold. A gun. The zebra has a gun pointed right at Judy and she's too focused on the hippo to notice it.

"Judy! He's got a gun! JUDY!"

 _BANG! Bang! BANG!_

Shots ring out and in a literal flash of lightning, Nick's life suddenly switches into a stark, clear line of _before_ and _after_.

Before, he and his family had played a board game after dinner yesterday and his wife had beaten him mercilessly. Before, Nick had tucked his two little ones into bed last night, reassuring them that Mommy and Daddy were always as safe as possible while on the job. They looked out for each other and kept each other safe. Before, Nick had spent all night curled up around Judy and found himself amazed that he still woke up to her smiling face each morning. Before, he and Judy had stopped at their favorite coffee shop before going into work today.

The after part, well, Nick is terrified to find out what the _after_ holds for him.

" _Judy!_ "

His heart stopped as soon as Judy hit the ground and he races to her side just as the rain starts pouring down. His knees skid against the pavement as he lands next to Judy, and for a moment, his mind goes completely blank and all of his extensive first-aid training is forgotten in an instant. All he can focus on is Judy's body lying in the middle of the road. Blood is already staining her police uniform. A deep, dark red that is saturating her shirt and Nick is horrified to see that there's just _so much_ of it. He can't help but curse the police and their blatant lack of gun training. They didn't even have bullet proof vests because guns were outlawed in Zootopia a long time ago, and manufactures stopped making them shortly after that. There hadn't been a need for vests or proper training or anything of the sort before this very moment.

Nick tentatively reaches out and puts a paw on Judy's shoulder, his chest constricting in fear. Judy's violet eyes flutter open and her gaze lands on his face and his heart starts beating again, pounding in his ears like a drum. His brain kicks back into gear.

Nick slips an arm around her shoulders, holding her still in a comforting embrace, and grasps her paw in his. "Judy? Honey, you have to stay still," he instructs her gently. He has no idea how many times she was shot, but there's a lot of blood coming from her wounds and Nick can't do much of anything until an ambulance arrives.

He doesn't know what happened to the robbers and he doesn't care to know. All he's focused on in his bleeding wife lying in his lap. He looks up and scans the area, relieved to find that the perps are nowhere in sight and he'd rather keep it that way. Nick does remember to get out his radio and call for help, telling the first officer he gets that Officer Hopps is down, and that they need an ambulance before quickly giving them their location. There was already at least a couple cruisers en route to the bank robbery, and they were all just getting word that the criminals were escaping on foot down ninth street. Nick is confident that someone will be here soon. Everyone rushes to the scene when an officer is down.

Judy makes some sort of strained noise in the back of her throat, and he looks back down at her, anxiety filling him. Her heavy-lidded gaze tries to lock with his, but she seems to have a hard time focusing. Judy's breaths are coming in short, rapid pants and she grips his paw tighter as if in sudden pain. She sucks in a quick breath. "Oh, Nick, it hurts!" she moans.

"Shh, Judy, shh," Nick tries in vain to comfort her, but he's at a loss of what to do. He has nothing to stop the bleeding with, and all he knows is that he needs to keep her lying still until she can get to a hospital.

Finally, through the rain, lightning, and thunder, Nick's ears pick up the sound of sirens. Help is coming and a mediocre amount of relief seeps through him.

"Help is on the way, Judy. Your gonna be alright."

" . . . Nick."

Judy suddenly reaches up and somehow, despite her injuries, gently caresses the side of his face. Her paw is trembling and so is her arm. Nick instinctively turns his head and kisses the inside of her paw. His lips are a ghost of a whisper against her fur and she breathes out a small sigh of relief.

"I love you, Nick . . ."

Nick's throat constricts tightly and he tries to swallow down the lump in his throat. He manages to croak out, "I love you so much, Judy."

There's something about it that feels so final to him and Nick tries to shake the horrible feeling off, but now Judy's eyes have finally found his and she's looking up at him with such love and sadness and peace. There's a small smile on her face. Nick finds himself drowning in those large, violet liquid pools and he can't break himself free of her captivating spell. He clutches onto Judy tighter and then her paw drops from his face and she goes completely limp in his arms.

A crack of thunder has him shuddering and he feels as if he's just woken from a dream. All of a sudden, Judy's body begins to shake with uncontrollable tremors. Is she going into shock, already? Has she lost that much blood so quickly?

"Judy? Judy!"

How did she fall unconscious? God damnit, what's happening?

At that very moment, the blue and red lights of the police cruiser wash over him and hope lifts in his chest when he realizes that salvation has finally arrived.

"Help is here! Please hold on for me, honey!" Nick shakes her gently to wake her up and for a split second he doesn't think she's breathing. A cold, icy, tingling runs down his spine that has nothing to do with the rain. He fumbles for a pulse at her wrist and when he doesn't find one, a violent dread swallows him whole.

"JUDY!"

Cops are now surrounding him. Panicked voices are shouting out orders, and questions are being demanded of him. Nick hears the blaring siren of an ambulance. Nick is lost in the middle of it all, hurting so much in the wake of this horrible, tragic after. He cries into Judy's shirt, not caring about the blood.

"No, no, no, _no_ . . ." he moans a broken litany into her chest, somehow hoping to will her heart into beating again.

More loud shouting- words he can't understand -hurt Nick's ears, as tears slip down his cheeks. He clutches onto his wife's broken, bloody body as if it is the only lifeline for his sinking soul in this endless sea of darkness. Everything around him is dimmed down, as if he and Judy are the only two mammals in the entire universe. The noises around him- voices, cars, sirens, thunder -are nothing but shushed whispers. He still has Judy's paw held tightly in his, it's his tether. He see's the red of the blood and the navy blue of her vest, his head still buried into her chest. Through the smell of the rain, he can still make out _her_ distinct smell. It's something like lilac and summer and clover all rolled together.

Nick breathes in and out, trying to surround himself with her scent and imprint it on himself. He never wants to forget it. A choked sob escapes him and rolls though his entire body.

But all too soon, Judy is ripped away from his grasp and she is quickly shuttled into the back of an ambulance. They didn't even give him time to say goodbye or even allow him to get into the ambulance with her. Nick's eyes grow lost and distant when she's suddenly taken from him. He sits there, in the middle of the road, covered in blood that is not his own. The rain pours down relentlessly. Thunder booms in the distance. Nick stares down at the road, where her blood is now being washed away by the rain.

Someone is asking him if he's hurt and Nick shakes his head, eyes still unseeing. A fellow officer gently pulls him aside and kindly offers to take him to the hospital. Nick nods mutely, now in shock himself, and he has no idea what to do in this moment. He isn't sure how to carry himself, or what to say or do. He just feels so _lost_.

As Nick starts to get into the police cruiser, he suddenly remembers about the bank robbery and the criminals they were after and that damned zebra that shot Judy. Rage fills him and his fists clench in unspeakable anger. The anger gives him a rush of clarity, and despite his turbulent emotional state, Nick's sense of duty kicks in and he can't ignore the niggling long enough to leave the crime scene behind. Judy would have lectured him extensively for it.

He steps back out into the road, looking for whoever seems to be in charge of this catastrophe, when he literally runs right into Chief Bogo. Nick rubs his bruised snout after bumping into the hard muscled mass of the Chief. Bogo turns around and Nick's question must be written all over his face, because the mammal immediately reaches out a hoof and clamps it down on Nick's shoulder. It's a sign of solidarity. He gives Nick a firm nod and his message is clear. _Go. We've got this._

Nick nods a quick affirmative and then rushes back to his confused escort, whom he only now recognizes as one of the young, new recruits. They literally just had their first day last week. Bogo must want the kid away from this horrific crime scene, too. He's fresh out of the academy, he still has zits all over his face. He doesn't need to see this.

Nick hoarsely thanks the kid for the ride and then he spends the rest of the trip in complete silence, staring blankly out the window without actually seeing anything.

The rain continues to pour and with a clap of thunder, Nick startles to realize how appropriate the weather is, matching the dark storm in his own broken heart.

* * *

 **A.N: Holy jeebus, I have never in my life killed off a character. Or ever written something so sad before. Why do I want to toy with Nick and Judy so bad?**

 **Anyway, the second chapter is coming very soon, so be on the look out for that!**


	2. Ushering in the After

**A.N: I just wanted to say that there are some head canons in here that I've adopted from fellow Zootopia fanfic author, PulledTogether. He wrote some amazing stories and there were some little tidbits that I absolutely loved in his stories. I'll mention what they are at the ending Author's Note- cuz I don't want to give anything away -but I promised him a shout out, so here it is. He's a really good writer and you all should check out his stuff!**

 **Okay, moving on.**

 **P.S. Also I wanted to apologize for the lateness of this chapter. I wanted to have it out sooner, but I am once again a college student and first semester midterms hit like a maelstrom. But, now that they're all over with, I should have more time to devote to writing! I hope this pretty lengthy chapter makes up for the wait.**

* * *

It's been two weeks and Judy still hasn't woken up. Nick is by her side day and night, and he is completely beside himself with worry and an all consuming fear. Fear of being alone. Fear of losing Judy. Fear of raising their two kids all by himself. He constantly wakes up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat from too many nightmares. He doesn't know what to do with himself. He's not eating, he's not sleeping, and he's on extended leave until he feels he's ready to come back to work- or when Judy gets better. Whichever comes first, but Nick desperately hopes it's the latter. Until then, he holds on to the little bits of hope he can grasp on to, and the wonderful sense of peace his daughters seem to bring him. They are Nicks bright spots in this whole mess. He holds onto to them for strength, because even on his toughest days, Nick still has to go home to those two little girls, one with sparkling green eyes, the other with vibrant purple, and reassure them that everything is okay. Despite the fact that their own mother had _died_. In his arms. In the middle of a thunderstorm.

Judy was able to be revived in the ambulance. She was immediately taken into emergency surgery as soon as they got her to the hospital. She'd been shot twice. One bullet was a through and through, and the other they'd had to leave in her collar bone, because it was too dangerous to try and take it out. The bullet was still inside of her, lodged in the bone, and while Nick was slightly uncomfortable with that, he knew it was what had to be done. But, when Judy finally came out of surgery, she never woke up. They told Nick later that she hadn't regained consciousness after they'd restarted her heart in the ambulance, either. She'd lost too much blood, too quickly, and then died. The immense loss of blood, combined with the oxygen her brain was deprived of for those however long odd minutes she was dead in Nick's arms, had apparently resulted in her coma.

Her doctors reassured Nick that there was a good chance Judy could still pull through, but they were now at the two week mark. With each day that passed from this point on with no notable signs of improvement, it became less and less likely that Judy would ever wake up from her coma.

Nick is utterly distraught. The conversation he'd had to have with his in-laws was, well difficult, if he was putting it nicely. More like loud, badgering, completely upsetting and exhausting, if he was being honest. Stu and Bonnie had been on the next train to Zootopia after that first initial call, and now he's fielding nearly daily calls from them both about Judy. He promises over and over again that he'll call them at the first sign of any change, but they still call Nick anyway, their impatient worrying getting the best of them. Nick only allows it because he's a parent now, too, and he honestly doesn't know what he'd do if it was Holly or April that had gotten hurt instead.

He loves his daughters, but it's getting harder and harder to come home to them every day and field their constant questions about Mommy, and when she was going to get better, and when they could go see her, and when she was going to come home. Holly is five and April is only three and they're just _so_ young. They don't understand that Judy had died so suddenly after being shot. They don't understand why their mother isn't waking up. The girls miss her sorely and that pain is felt in their household on a daily basis.

Nick finds Holly crying alone in her bedroom after school one day. Mother's Day is coming up and so the kids were all assigned to make their mom cards in class. And then when all the other nosy kids asked Holly why she was making a _Get Well Soon_ card for her mom instead- a suggestion thoughtfully offered by her teacher -she didn't know how to explain to a bunch of fellow kindergartners that her Mommy was hurt and sleeping in the hospital. It had really upset her. Holly lamented about how they couldn't do breakfast in bed for Judy this year, and how her mom just simply wasn't going to be there for she and her sister on _her_ own special day. She was absolutely heartbroken over it all, and Nick tried his best to comfort her while shedding a few tears himself. He had no idea what to say to make it better.

And April, despite being younger, felt the pain of not having their mother around, too. She kept complaining about dinner and how it's, "Not as good as Mommy makes it." She misses the books that Judy usually read to her before bed, and doesn't like that Nick just doesn't do the voices the same as her. April wants Daddy home more, and while she loves Rita-their motherly neighbor who kindly watches the girls for Nick-she's still missing her mom and her dad all day. It worries her greatly when he's gone too long from the house, because in her mind, if Mommy got hurt and can't come home, than there's a chance that Daddy will get hurt, too, and never come home. April doesn't want to lose both her parents and Nick understands why she suddenly has that fear. He always makes sure to give her extra kisses and hugs at bedtime, and sometimes will stay with her till she falls asleep.

Holly has frequently started crawling into bed with him since the shooting, and he holds on to her tightly during those nights. Sometimes, he wakes up with both his girls in bed with him and on those mornings, he doesn't care a single bit that they might be late for school, because he was getting in some extra much needed snuggle time. His daughters feels safest with him, and Nick surely isn't going to take a single moment of that for granted. Especially not now, when they need that comfort the most.

* * *

Tomorrow is Sunday, Mother's Day, and so he and the girls are going to the hospital to see Judy. Despite his own reservations about the visit, Holly and April are excited. As soon as he gets back home from the hospital on Saturday evening, they are on him like a pack of wild wolves.

"Daddy, Daddy!" the girls clamor around him, shouting in his face and jumping up and down. Nick is absolutely bewildered until April grabs his paw and starts dragging him towards the kitchen. Holly has his other paw.

When they get to the kitchen, Rita is laughing in her seat and Nick easily smiles along with her, until April demands his attention as she climbs into a chair and grabs a piece of colored construction paper from the pile on the table. "Daddy, you gots to make Mommy a card, too!" she says.

"See, look at mine!" Holly shows him three Mother's Day cards, including the card she made at school. They're all different colors, each with messy handwriting and lots of glitter. April's look about he same when she proudly shows him the two she's made.

"Okay, okay, girls. Just let me sit down," Nick placates them, moving around the table and sitting in a seat.

He leans over and winks at Rita, "Thanks. This was a great idea."

"They haven't stopped talking about it all day. It was a no-brainer to make some cards for Judy," she smiles warmly at him.

"Well, it is much appreciated," Nick grabs a yellow piece of paper and starts on his own card. Rita is a long-time family friend of Nick's. A sweet, matronly elephant, she was his next door neighbor while growing up. Though she never married or had any kids of her own, Rita took to Nick like a duck to water when he and his mom first moved in. She frequently came over to babysit him when his mom had to work late hours. Nick has as many memories of Rita tucking him into bed as he does his own mother. She continued to be a great friend to his mom for years after he grew up and moved on out of the house. To be honest, Nick still carries a large soft spot for Rita, even now as an adult.

When Nick's mother, Barbara, passed away suddenly- shortly after Judy and him had started dating -she left Nick her house and all of her belongings. Nick wasted no time moving in after the funeral, happy for the upgrade to his shabby apartment, and when him and Rita had started sorting through all of Barbara's things, they'd had a pretty sizable and rather expensive pile of things left to sell. His mother had turned into something of a packrat in her elderly years. Ever the frugal and sly thinking hustler at heart that he was, Nick sold all of it and had a great sum of money left over. With the money, he bought Judy her engagement ring, and the rest of it went towards fixing things up around his mother's old house.

When Judy and Nick got married, she had moved on in and they were now raising their family in the same house that Nick had grown up in, complete with Rita, now in her golden years of retired bliss. She absolutely adores Holly and April just as much, or possibly even more, than she did Nick when he was a kid.

Nick makes his card, listening to the girls chatter on and on about Mother's Day and Judy, and he's happy to see that there are no longer any more traces of sadness about the day from Holly. When he's done, Holly and April nod their approval, and then groan and complain when Nick declares it's bath time. He shepherds them out of the room and then Rita kindly helps him clean up the mess of glitter, stickers, glue, and bits and pieces of paper from the table.

Once the girls are out of earshot, Rita asks him, "So, how's the Misses today?"

Nick shrugs, "There's been no change since yesterday. Her doctor told me today that they're just gonna continue keeping an eye on her. That's all they can really do at this point."

Rita nods slowly in understanding. She gives off a long sigh, and then she stops so she can look him straight in the eye, "I believe she's going to be fine, Nick. Judy's a fighter. She always has been from what you've told me about her. She'll make it through this. I know it."

Nick smiles and rubs at the fur at the back of his neck, "Yeah, she really doesn't know when to quit." He doesn't outwardly show it, but he is bolstered by the vote of confidence. They were words he didn't realize he needed to hear until just now. Somehow, Rita always just _knows_.

When they're done cleaning up the kitchen, Nick walks Rita to the door and notices a bouquet of yellow daffodil flowers on the foyer table. "What are those?" he points at the bouquet.

"Oh, I almost forgot. Those are for Judy. I was thinking you all could bring them to the hospital for her tomorrow."

Nick smiles up at her and his heart swells. She's so thoughtful. "Thank you, Rita. That's very nice of you."

"Of course, dear," she pats his paw.

Suddenly, he grips onto her paw, not letting her go just yet. "But, really Rita, listen. Thank you so much for- I mean, well, _everything_ since the accident," a swelling of emotion builds up in Nick and he has to let her know how earnest his feelings are. "I just, I don't know how to ever repay you. You've pretty much saved us in more ways than I can possibly think of." Rita has cooked meals for them, watched Holly and April at every beck and call, been a shoulder to cry on, and an all around pillar of strength for him and his family. She's been nothing but kind, thoughtful and patient throughout this entire ordeal, and with his own mother gone, and Bonnie and Stu back in Bunnyburrow, he honestly doesn't know what he would have done without Rita here to help him out.

"You just get that wife of yours, home, Nick. That's all I want," Rita smiles back at him and Nick nods mutely, giving her a hug goodbye.

Once Rita's left, he quickly gathers himself back together, taking a moment to admire Rita's flowers on the table. He's certain Judy would love them.

He then wrangles his two little rabbits into the bath and then into bed. They each claim that they're so excited they don't know how they're ever gonna sleep tonight, but five minutes after Nick tucks them both in and turns out the light, he quietly check on them and is satisfied to see both girls are fast asleep.

And so ends another day in the endless waiting game that has become their life. Because no matter how many cards for Judy are made, or flowers are given to her, Nick can still feel the impatient sense of unease settling over the household, as he crawls into bed that night and reaches out instinctively for the other mammal that's supposed to be there. The empty pit in his stomach grows larger and he grabs a body pillow and sleeps with that instead, wishing more than anything that it was Judy he was holding in his arms.

* * *

Nick's nightmares are the worst. They always start out with the zebra and the gun, and then the loud bang of the gun going off. Sometimes, Judy is screaming and thrashing in unbearable pain until she finally passes away in his arms. Other times, Nick can't get to her at all and he's suddenly paralyzed. He watches helplessly as she bleeds out and then dies, gasping her final breath with her arms outstretched towards him. Those nightmares are at least his memories of that horrid day being warped and twisted. Those he can at least deal with. But, the worst ones are the nightmares in which Nick is watching Judy die again in the hospital.

It always starts out the same. Nick is sitting by Judy's bedside, holding on to her paw, much like he does every day during his waking hours at the hospital. Everything is quiet and subdued, Nick and his comatose wife are the only ones in the room. He opens his mouth to say something, to tell her a story like he always does, when suddenly, all of her monitors start going off and blaring loud warning beeps. Nick stands up and knocks over his chair as he panics and starts calling desperately for help, but no sound comes out of his mouth and help never comes. Nick is left to helplessly watch as Judy convulses violently on the bed for several minutes. Her sheets are kicked off the bed, along with her pillows as her body jerks and spasms. Despite the loss of his voice, he never stops yelling for her doctors. He just wants someone, _anyone,_ to come and save her.

Until finally, everything stops at an abrupt standstill and deadly silence fills the tiny hospital room. It's completely silent and it suddenly feels like it's all closing in around Nick and there is no escape. He grips Judy's paw again, only to find that it's already cold. Her face loses all of it's color and her body hardens as the ghost of death sweeps over her. Nick chokes on his sobs and he falls to his knees at her bedside, and sobs and sobs until he has nothing left in him.

And then Nick wakes up, every time at that exact moment when he finally stops crying in his dream.

It terrifies him, because he is forever fearful of that one day happening on one of his hospital visits. It's why he doesn't want Holly and April there all the time, because he certainly doesn't want them to witness anything like that. He's already watched Judy die once, and now he's got nightmare fuel to last a lifetime.

Such a nightmare wakes him up from his troubled sleep tonight, like most every other night since Judy was shot. Nick detangles himself from his bed sheets, as they're all twisted around his body. He gets up from the bed, his paws clammy and his heart racing in his chest.

Nick checks on the girls, satisfied that they're both still asleep in their beds, then goes downstairs to distract himself from his troubled thoughts as best he can. He knows he won't get any more sleep for the rest of the night. Nick makes some calming tea for himself, the kind that Judy loves, and he's now acquired a taste for it in her absence. It's something like a chamomile and valerian hybrid concoction, and Judy drank it practically by the gallon during both of her pregnancies. She claimed it calmed the bouncing baby bunny in her stomach down, and helped her sleep. There's always been a healthy stock of it in the house ever since she first got pregnant with Holly.

Nick eventually settles down in the living room with his mug of tea, and flips through the channels until something catches his eye. He gives off a long, wearisome sigh. He's not yet sure what tomorrow will bring, but as long as he can get through tonight, he figures he'll somehow be alright.

* * *

Nick, Holly and April get to the hospital the next day, each clutching their Mother's Day cards. The usual, constant chatter of the girls goes quiet as soon as they enter Judy's room with Nick. The room is equally quiet, the usual sounds of Judy's monitors beep softly, counting her heart beats. One of the nurses has opened up the blinds, and soft sunshine bathes the room in a warm and inviting glow.

Nick ushers the girls in ahead of him and then places Rita's daffodils in an empty vase at Judy's bedside table. Other vases filled with more flowers are dotted around Judy's room, and Nick is reminded of all the other people who care for Judy and are pushing for her to get better, too. Clawhauser sent some, along with the antelope down in records who adores Judy, and a bunch more are from Judy's numerous siblings and her parents. Even Bogo sent in a card with a bunch of other signatures from their coworkers wishing Judy a speedy recovery. Judy sure is loved, there's no doubt about that.

His attention is drawn back to Holly and April as they take each other's hand and approach Judy's bed ever so cautiously.

"Remember girls, be careful of Mommy's wires and tubes. If you want to get on the bed, you have to stay down here, by her feet, okay?" Nick reminds them gently. He pats the edge of the bed, indicating where exactly they can climb up if they want to. They usually don't, but Nick thinks that maybe today the girls might want to be a little closer to their mom. Maybe the fact that it's Mother's Day will make them a little more bold.

They both nod silently in understanding. They've heard all of the cautious warnings before and they'll most likely hear it again, too. He hates this part so much. Holly and April are filled with such trepidation and fear for the first fifteen minutes of their visit. They're not sure how to perceive their mother lying silently in that hospital bed, with a machine helping her to breathe and multiple IV's in one arm and even more tubes and things sticking out of her other arm. Nick knows how hard it is to swallow, but at this point he's more than used to it, but the girls aren't.

They stare up at Judy's comatose form with wide, unblinking eyes, each of their little noses twitching. It's like they expect Judy to spring up out of bed at any moment.

Nick can't take it any more. He pulls his usual chair over and says, "Hey, girls, why don't you show Mommy your cards?"

"But, she can't see anything. She's sleeping," Holly so expertly reminds him.

"Yes, I know. But, I think that Mommy can still hear you. You can talk to her, if you want. Tell her about school, or how you made your Mother's Day cards, or anything you want to. She's a real great listener," he reassures them.

They both look at each other, and then April breaks away from Holly and comes over and crawls silently into his lap. She shoves her cards into his hands, "You do it."

Nick takes the offered cards and sighs, "Okay." He holds up the first one and gives it a once-over. "So, Carrots, here we have a very special Mother's Day card made by our sweet little, April." As he mentions April, Nick tickles her side lightly and that earns him a little giggle. It breaks up the tension a bit. "She made you a card with lots and lots and lots of purple glitter, and little pink hearts-"

"Don't forget the butterflies, Daddy," April interrupts him and points out the butterfly stickers on the inside of the card.

"And butterflies. And there's a sweet message that says, ' _I love you.'_ Now, isn't that just adorable?" Nick smiles down at April and already she seems more at ease.

He describes April's next card for Judy, and then Holly comes over and does the same thing, except she told Judy about her Mother's Day cards herself. Nick is ridiculously proud of her for that. He relaxes into his chair and holds April close as Holly continues to describe her cards. The girls seem much more at ease now that the ice has been broken.

He sighs and reaches out and takes Judy's paw in his, holding it on the bed instead of in his lap like usual since April is there instead.

Holly notices this and then she quietly asks, "Can I hold her hand, Daddy?"

Nick looks to Holly in surprise, but nods quickly, "Yes, of course, sweetie." He lets her have his chair and pulls it closer to the bed for her. She climbs up onto it readily, but once she's face to face with her unresponsive mother, Nick sees the fear fill her again. Her nose twitches nervously and her ears swivel as they catch the sound of the heart monitor and the ventilator up close and personal.

Finally, she reaches out her little paw cautiously, not wanting to disturb any of Judy's wires and tubing. She find's Judy's paw and it takes her another cautious minute, but then she grabs it up and holds Judy's paw tightly against her chest and suddenly tears are gathering in her eyes.

Nick quickly sets April down on the bed, by Judy's feet, and gives his daughter a reassuring stroke of the ears, before going over to comfort his other crying daughter. He wraps an arm around Holly's shoulders and gently calms her, "Shh, Holly, shhh. It's okay, honey-bun."

"But I miss her so much, Daddy!" Holly wails, still clutching tight to Judy's hand.

"I know, I know," Nick's heart begins to break all over again. He holds her for a little more, and then he takes her chin and lifts it up, so she can look him right in the eye. "You know what I like to do? When I feel sad about Mommy?"

"What?" she mumbles tearfully.

Nick strokes Holly's ears tenderly, "I like to tell Mommy about what I did that day. I tell her about you girls, and Rita and how many other mammals have been sending her flowers. I tell her all the good stuff, so that when she wake up, she won't have missed anything. Why don't you tell her about your good stuff, huh?" he tries to coax Holly into it gently. Nick just wants them to understand that Mommy is still _here_ , with them, and that she's not completely gone.

"Okay," Holly sighs, trying to gather herself together. At this point, April is at Nick's side, concerned and worried for Holly, too.

Holly squeezes Judy's hand and then slowly she begins to talk to her, "I- I, um . . . I read a new book at school, Mommy. I liked it a lot and it's 'bout a dog named Kipper and a baby pig. His name was Arnold. They go swimming in the- in the pool, cuz it's hot outside. But, the baby doesn't know how to swim. I'm glad I can swim. April should learn to swim, too . . ."

And the rest of the visit goes on just like that. Holly talks to her about school, and some of her friends, and all the fun games Rita plays with them on the weekends. Even April tentatively joins in, and when she wanted to tell her stories to Judy, Holly transferred their mother's hand over to her little sister as if it was a talking stick. Nick finds that endlessly amusing, but he's also enormously happy that the girls are opening up a little more and are getting comfortable around Judy. They each share the chair, passing Judy's limp hand back and forth between them as they tell her different things that have happened to them over the past two weeks.

A large weight is lifted off his shoulders as he watches them. Half his battle in this whole mess had been to convince Holly and April that Mommy _was_ actually alive and whole. She just needs to sleep for a long time until she gets better. The girls were so confused, seeing Judy in the hospital for the first time. They didn't understand why she couldn't wake up and what all the machines were for and how Mommy had gotten hurt so bad. They were scared of it all and rightfully so, but the hardest question had to be the one where they constantly asked him, "Are you sure Mommy's just sleeping?" Like they thought she was already dead. Which yes, she had died once already, and without the wires and tubes and machines hooked up to her, Nick was sure her comatose form would look like nothing more than a dead body. But, despite all of that Judy was still _here_ and real and alive and somehow, she would come back to them. Nick is sure of it. And that's what he'd been trying to convince his daughters of since the shooting, so it was immensely heartening and uplifting to see that they now were starting to believe it themselves. It was yet another push up the proverbial mountain.

He lets them prattle on a little more and then notices the time. He knows that the nurses will be coming in to check up on Judy soon, and decides that it's time to leave. The girls have made a lot of headway in just a short amount of time.

"Hey, girls, I think we're gonna get going," he approaches the girls and they nod in understanding, and then they both surprise him further when Holly and April take turns giving Judy's hand a gentle kiss. Nick smiles warmly down at them as they climb down from the chair.

He leans forward and brushes a kiss atop Judy's head and runs a paw down one of her ears. "Hang in there, Carrots. I'll see you, tomorrow."

He turns back to Holly and April and starts walking with them towards the door. They each look back and wave, chorusing with a cheerful, "Bye-bye, Mommy!"

Nick's heart is completely full for possibly the first time since the accident. He wants some ice cream, wants to keep this good mood going.

"Okay, girls, who wants ice cream?"

"Me, me, me!"

It might ruin their dinner, but Nick doesn't care as he watches their eyes light up in excitement, and he figures each of them more than deserve a trip to their favorite ice cream shop, today.

If only they had stayed long enough to notice Judy's paw- the very one her daughters had been holding on to -her fingers twitched just slightly at her side.

* * *

 **A.N: So, the things I got from PulledTogether is the story behind Rita the elephant and also Nick's mother, Barbara, and how he acquired her house. I also fell in love with his OC, Holly, so much that I had to use her for my own WildeHopp's babies. And that's all I used from PulledTogether and his Zootopia stories. You should check his stuff out when you get a chance cuz I can't stop gushing over his stories, I love them so much!**

 **That's all for now and I really hope you guys are still liking the story! Third chapter is gonna be up soon enough! Judy's gonna wake up next chapter! : )))**


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